EP2924353A1

EP2924353A1 - Luminaire with inclination mechanism

Info

Publication number: EP2924353A1
Application number: EP14382114.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Federico Martinez Weber
Original assignee: Antares Iluminacion SA
Current assignee: Antares Iluminacion SA
Priority date: 2014-03-28
Filing date: 2014-03-28
Publication date: 2015-09-30

Abstract

Luminaire with inclination mechanism of the type that comprise at least one frame (1) with at least one opening (2) for the exit of the light and a lamp (3) which is the light source. The inclination mechanism comprises a rotary worm (4) mounted on the frame (1), a truncated pinion (5) which tilts with the rotary movement of the worm (4), and a mobile support (6) wherein the lamp (3) is housed and which is joined to the truncated pinion (5) so that it moves together with said truncated pinion (5) with respect to the frame (1) to incline the mobile support (6) with the lamp (3) with respect to the frame (1).

Description

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is included in the technical field of lighting.
More specifically, it is a luminaire with inclination mechanism wherein the lamp which is the light source is mounted on a truncated pinion which is displaced on a worm in order to vary the inclination of said lamp.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Luminaires are known in the state of the art, such as for example, built-in luminaires, wherein the luminaire is disposed inside a receptacle designed to be introduced in a wall, the floor or ceiling of a room. Thus, the luminaire remains behind the surface of the wall and the light exits through the receptacle orifice wherein the luminaire is disposed.
This type of luminaires are very highly in demand by users as they do not take up space in the room where they are installed. Furthermore, they do not need to be cleaned as dust is not deposited on them. Another important advantage they provide is that the light which reaches the user through them is indirect. Said light is emitted in the luminaire but it is inside the receptacle and, therefore, the user does not see it directly. This means that the light perceived by the user is softer, less unpleasant and does not dazzle him.
A technical problem to be resolved in built-in luminaires is the orientation of the lamp inside the receptacle. This orientation depends on the position wherein the luminaire built into the ceiling, wall or floor is installed. The change in orientation in accordance with this position makes it possible to ensure that the light which exits through the receptacle orifice is directed towards the area one wants to illuminate.
To do this, it is necessary to install a lamp installation system inside the receptacle. Generally, to change said orientation inclination are used systems which make it possible to modify the height and inclination of the lamp with respect to the light outlet orifice.
A luminaire inclination system known in the state of the art is based on a mechanism comprising a rack whereon gears are displaced wherebetween a worm is disposed. Said worm is also joined to a support wherein the lamp is installed.
The rack must have a circular trajectory which has a certain radius which must exactly coincide with the centre of the light outlet orifice so that the luminous efficacy is maximum. This hinders assembly of the mechanism and requires very high precision in the manufacturing of the parts forming it.
In order to be able to displace the luminaire along the rack to change its inclination, the user must act on the worm. Said worm is disposed between the gears so that, on acting on it with a screwdriver, it rotates on itself and makes the gears rotate, which are displaced along the rack, displacing the entire assembly (including the support where the lamp is found, which is joined to the worm).
As the receptacle is installed in a wall, a floor or a ceiling, the only access to its interior is the orifice wherethrough the light exits. When the user has to change the inclination of the luminaire he has to introduce the screwdriver through the light outlet orifice. This is an uncomfortable situation for the user.
A great drawback of these solutions is that, depending on the position wherein the luminaire is at every given time or the position wherein one wants to take it, it may be practically impossible for the user to act on the worm. This occurs especially when the gears, the worm and the support of the lamp are at the end of the rack which coincides with an inner wall of the enclosure.
In this known example of the state of the art the enclosure has a front wall which is parallel to the surface wherein the luminaire is installed. The light outlet orifice is disposed in said front wall. The luminaire inclination mechanism rack starts from the inner face of said front wall.
Thus, when the gears, worm and support are at the end of the rack, the user must introduce the screwdriver with an orientation almost parallel to the front wall to be able to act on the mechanism. It is a very uncomfortable position wherein the user has no freedom of movement to be able to work adequately.
Another problem entailed by the luminaire inclination mechanism described is that it comprises many pieces. Therefore, the system can only be installed in receptacles with sufficiently large size so that all these pieces fit.
Furthermore, as the rack must have a very specific determined radius, it is necessary that there is sufficient space in the luminaire so that radius can be respected. Due to this, for example, in luminaires with little thickness, this type of system could not be installed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention proposes a luminaire with inclination mechanism which resolves the aforementioned problems.
The light source of the luminaire is a lamp which is disposed inside said luminaire. More specifically, the lamp is located in a mobile support which is connected in a tilting manner to the frame.
The inclination mechanism which allows the tilting of the mobile support with the lamp comprises a rotary worm and a tilting truncated pinion which are interconnected and are mounted in the frame. It also includes the mobile support which is joined to the truncated pinion and moves like it.
The worm is manually actuated by the user who wants to vary the orientation of the lamp so that the light source emitted comes out of the luminaire with a different inclination in accordance with the needs in each case. Thus, the user introduces his hand through an opening in the frame which is designed for the passage of the light and rotates the worm in the desired direction using a screwdriver.
When the worm rotates it makes the truncated pinion tilt towards one direction or another depending on the direction of rotation of the worm. When the user has placed the lamp with the desired inclination, he removes the screwdriver and the lamp is maintained in its position.
A very important advantage of the present invention with respect to the luminaires known in the state of the art is that in this case the inclination mechanism is much simpler and comprises less pieces.
This implies, on the one hand, that it is easier to manufacture, assemble and handle. The worm, which is the element that the user has to handle to vary the inclination of the lamp, is fixed in a position. In other words, despite the fact that the inclination of the lamp (and of the mobile support wherein it is mounted) vary, the worm is always in the same place, mounted on the frame, without its position varying with the inclination of the lamp.
To facilitate these inclination change operations of the lamp the worm is mounted very close to the frame opening and thus the user can perform the operations in a comfortable position.
Another advantage arising from the use of the inclination mechanism described is that the luminaires with this inclination mechanism can be of small size. For luminaires of small size, smaller pieces will be used, but as there are few, and due to the type of connections between them, all parts fit inside small luminaires.
Additionally, the luminaire of the present invention may comprise a rotation mechanism designed to allow rotation of the light source towards a determined direction.
In this case the frame can be divided in two portions one of which has the possibility of rotation with respect to the other. The portion that may rotate is the portion wherein the worm and the truncated pinion are mounted, which is in turn joined to the mobile support wherein the lamp is found.
Said portion with possibility of rotation is the interior portion and comprises a crown which is connected to a circular pinion rotary. When the user wants to orientate the lamp in the same plane but rotating it to change the direction in which the light comes out, he simply has to act on the circular pinion with a screwdriver.
On doing this, the circular pinion rotates making the crown rotate, and therefore making the interior portion rotate. In this way, the interior portion moves and as the mobile support is joined to the truncated pinion which is mounted on the interior portion, said mobile support moves (where the lamp is found).

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To complement the description being made and in order to aid towards a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, in accordance with a preferred example of practical embodiment thereof, a set of drawings is attached as an integral part of said description wherein, with illustrative and non-limiting character, the following has been represented:

Figure 1.- Shows a perspective view of the luminaire with inclination mechanism.
Figure 2.- Shows a sectional view of the luminaire with inclination mechanism.
Figure 3.- Shows an exploded view of the luminaire with inclination mechanism.
Figure 4.- Shows an exploded view of the luminaire where the portions of the frame and the inclination mechanism can be observed.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

An example of embodiment of the present invention is described below with the aid of figures 1 to 4.
In figure 1, a luminaire is observed of the type that comprise a frame (1) whereto a mobile support (6) is joined wherein a lamp (3) which is the light emitting source of the luminaire is disposed.
Figure 2 shows a sectional view of the luminaire of figure 1 wherein it is observed how the elements disposed inside the luminaire are interrelated.
The lamp (3) is disposed in the upper area of the luminaire, orientated towards the frame (1). Said frame (1) comprises at least one opening (2) for the exit of the light emitted by the lamp (3).
The key of the present invention is the inclination mechanism comprising the luminaire and which makes it possible to regulate the inclination of the lamp (3) in the luminaire. This makes it possible to adapt the emission of the light from the lamp (3) to the most favourable conditions at any given time.
Said inclination mechanism comprises a rotary worm (4) mounted on the frame (1) and a tilting truncated pinion (5) which is also mounted on the frame (1). The truncated pinion (5) and the worm (4) are connected so that the truncated pinion (5) tilts with the rotary movement of the worm (4). This connection is shown clearly in figure 4.
Likewise, the inclination mechanism comprises a mobile support (6) wherein the lamp (3) is housed. As observed in figure 3, it is joined to the truncated pinion (5) so that it moves together with said truncated pinion (5) with respect to the frame (1) when this is moved actuated by the worm (4).
As the mobile support (6) moves joined to the truncated pinion (5), when this tilts, the mobile support (6) tilts with it, changing the inclination of the lamp (3) with respect to the frame (1).
As observed, for example, in figure 2, the luminaire may additionally comprise a secondary support (7) in the interior of which the lamp (3) is disposed. Said secondary support (7) comprises a secondary opening (8) which is positioned facing the light outlet opening (2) of the frame and is designed to focus the light emitted by the lamp (3). The secondary support (7) is joined to the mobile support (6) and moves with it.
In an embodiment of the invention the frame (1) comprises an inner body (9.1) and an outer body (9.2). In this embodiment the inner body (9.1) comprises a crown (10) and rotates with respect to the outer body (9.2), around the opening (2).
Preferably the worm (4) and the truncated pinion (5) are disposed in the inner body (9.1) to connect the mobile support (6) to said inner body (9.1). It may further comprise a circular pinion (11) connected to the crown (10) so that said crown (10) of the inner body (9.1) rotates with the rotary movement of the circular pinion (11) designed to rotate the mobile support (6) with the lamp (3).
This enables equipping the mobile support (6) with rotary movement around the opening (2) of the frame (1), giving the lamp (3) greater degrees of freedom. This increases the versatility of the luminaire since it can be placed in any desired position and the inclination of the lamp subsequently easily regulate, and additionally regulate the direction towards which the light is aimed, rotating it to vary this orientation.
In another example of embodiment the luminaire further comprises a flat plate (13) such as that observed, for example, in figure 2. It is joined to the frame (1) and disposed in correspondence with the opening (2), partially covering it. This flat plate (13) comprises a third opening (14) designed to allow the passage of the light from the lamp (3) through it.
The flat plate (13) makes it possible to conceal the element within the frame (1) so that the users do not see all the mechanisms and simply perceive the light emitted from the lamp (3) and which passes through the openings to the exterior of the luminaire.
The luminaire with inclination mechanism described has a freedom of inclination of the lamp of 40° which is sufficient to cover all lighting requirements of any user.

Claims

Luminaire with inclination mechanism of the type that comprise at least one frame (1) with at least one opening (2) for the exit of the light and a lamp (3) which is the light source, and it is characterized in that the inclination mechanism comprises:
- a rotary worm (4) mounted on the frame (1),

- a tilting truncated pinion (5) mounted on the frame (1) and connected to the worm (4), so that the truncated pinion (5) tilts with the rotary movement of the worm (4),

- a mobile support (6) wherein the lamp (3) is housed and which is joined to the truncated pinion (5) so that it moves together with said truncated pinion (5) with respect to the frame (1) when this is moved actuated by the worm (4) to incline the mobile support (6) with the lamp (3) with respect to the frame (1).
Luminaire with inclination mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the lamp (3) is disposed inside a secondary support (7) comprising a secondary opening (8) which is positioned facing the light outlet opening (2) of the frame and is designed to focus the light emitted by the lamp (3), and said secondary support (7) is joined to the mobile support (6) and moves with it.
Luminaire with inclination mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the frame (1) comprises an inner body (9.1) and an outer body (9.2), where the inner body (9.1) comprises a crown (10) and rotates with respect to the outer body (9.2) around the opening (2).
Luminaire with inclination mechanism according to claim 3, wherein the worm (4) and the truncated pinion (5) are disposed in the inner body (9.1) to connect the mobile support (6) to said inner body (9.1).
Luminaire with inclination mechanism according to claim 4, wherein it further comprises a circular pinion (11) connected to the crown (10) so that said crown (10) of the inner body (9.1) rotates with the rotary movement of the circular pinion (11) designed to rotate the mobile support (6) with the lamp (3).
Luminaire with inclination mechanism according to claim 1, additionally comprising a flat plate (13), joined to the frame (1) and disposed in correspondence with the opening (2), partially covering it, and comprising a third opening (14) designed to allow the passage of the light from the lamp (3).